​​​​​Cairo, Egypt 22/5/2017– Eng. Mustafa Abdel-Wahed, NTRA's Acting Executive President, inaugurated today 4th Middle East Domain Name System (DNS) Forum that is being held in Cairo on 22 and 23 May under the theme "Enhancing the Digital Presence in the Middle East". The Forum is organized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Society (ISOC), and hosted by the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA).

It is worth mentioning that Eng. Mustafa Abdul-Wahed expressed his delight to have the Forum's activities and meeting hosted by NTRA this year, which was the outcome of continuous efforts and joint cooperation between NTRA and the ICANN in this field. In fact, Egypt is

keen to host such esteemed international and regional forums, thanks to its pioneering role in this field and well-established strategy that aims to promote joint cooperation and exchange of experience, particularly on the regional scale, as the Middle East Domain Name System Forum represents a real opportunity for the exchange of expertise between Egypt and all the countries in the Middle East, NTRA's Acting Executive President added. Moreover, he stressed that it provides a suitable chance for the study and discussion of the latest developments in the domain names industry on the international and regional levels, as the attendants would be informed about the investment opportunities in this area that would eventually contribute directly to the development and progress of the Egyptian ICT sector in general.

He also expressed his confidence in NTRA's continued fruitful cooperation with ICANN, especially in the context of the latter's efforts exerted to develop the domain names industry in the ​region, which resulted in the establishment of the Regional Domain Name System Entrepreneurship Center (DNS-EC) in Cairo in 2014, which contributed to the development of capabilities needed for the domain name system industry in Egypt in addition to Africa and the Middle East and providing them with the appropriate expertise and skills to develop and manage the mechanisms of this industry.

Mr. Baher Esmat, Vice President, Stakeholder Engagement, in the Middle East, extended his thanks to NTRA for its partnership with ICANN and its support for ICANN's regional promotion of the development of the domain name industry in the Middle East. The Middle East Domain Name System, in its fourth session, aims to do this by providing an important platform for all parties involved in this area individuals, companies and institutions to policy makers so that they can learn from global experts and share rich experiences and see the latest culminating New data and emerging in the industry, Mr. Esmat noted.

It should be underscored that the Forum deals with topics related to domain names market, country code Top Level Domain (ccTLDs), and new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) in addition to other issues related to domain names services such as regional digital economy, businesses hosting and entrepreneurship in Egypt, and the role of women in the technology industry. Furthermore, the Forum will discuss several topics through more than 30 speakers from ICANN and registrants registries, registrars, registrants, country code Top Level Domain (ccTLDs), new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) applicants, policy makers, Internet service providers, IT businesses, brand owners and legal firms, academics and civil society will attend the event to share experiences and best practices.

The Fourth Middle East Domain Name System (DNS) Forum aims to bring together all interested parties and stakeholders from the region and international experts in the field, to exchange expertise and inform the public about new developments in the domain industry at the global and regional levels. Moreover, the Forum provides participants with the opportunity to interact with ICANN executive and industry experts on recent developments and trends in the global domain names industry, discuss various commercial, technical and political aspects thereof, as well as identify new approaches to the creation and expansion of online presence.